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Swansea University postdoc researcher Dr Claire Price has been recognised for her work to make science more accessible to the community in her home town.
The RSB Outreach and Engagement Awards celebrate researchers who communicate their scientific work using novel methods that effectively engage with their target audiences.
Dr Price, a researcher in the Centre for Cytochrome P450 Biodiversity at Swansea University, was named winner of the Outreach and Engagement Award for an Established Researcher.
She curated and delivered the first Bitesize Science Festival in Merthyr Tydfil in 2019 – the first science festival of its kind in the town, and one of the first few to be held outside a university city.
Dr Price also teamed up with the local high school and trained pupils to deliver science activities to younger children, with the help of researchers from Swansea University. As a result of this, the high school has also launched its first science club to help pupils take part in more outreach and engagement.
A dedicated science communicator, Dr Price is a STEM ambassador and a science advisor to Abercanaid Community School and has been previously involved in Soapbox Science events, Pint of Science events and other, more specialised science exhibitions.
She said: “I am completely shocked and awed to have received this award. I got involved in outreach and engagement because I love being able to share my passion for science with others.
“There is nothing quite like seeing the wonder and excitement in a person’s eyes when they see something for the first time. I am so lucky to have met so many wonderful people along the way and have learnt so much from them.
“In the future, I hope to carry on developing my outreach activities and reaching wider audiences with my engagement.”
Dr Steve Cross, chair of the award’s judging panel, said: “It was great for us to see such a wide group of researchers taking part this year, and it was great to see that outreach and engagement has become so embedded in the ways that biologists are working.
"We absolutely loved the fact that Claire started new science festivals and new ways for biologists to engage outside of the usual places.
“We were also really impressed by her leadership; not only did Claire bring many of her fellow biologists on board, she even ended up collaborating with local politicians and Welsh ministers in the putting together of her events."